KINGSTON, R.I. — February 8, 2005 — Don鈥檛 believe everything you read or see about the Republic of Georgia, a land of 5.5 million people living in an area roughly the combined size of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
The country, which borders Russia, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, gained its independence in 1991 and remains in transition, according to 溏心vlog免费B站 student Lisa Lahr.
鈥淭he media portrays the country in one of three ways: filled with churches, political upheaval, or beleaguered war orphans,鈥� says Lahr, a Middletown resident who has visited the former Soviet republic three times with a camera in hand during the last six years, circling the country from Tbilisi to Batumi, and shooting more than 3,000 images of Georgians at work and at play.
鈥淚 wanted to go beyond the headlines, beyond the CNNs,鈥� says the 41-year-old student who selected 40 of those images, some black and white, others in color, for an exhibit at 溏心vlog免费B站. The images best represent the Georgian culture Lahr discovered and admires.
The exhibit, 鈥淯nfettered Georgia: An Exhibition of Images of a Former Soviet Republic,鈥� will be on display until May 30 on the second floor of 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Lippitt Hall, the home of 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Honors Program. The exhibit is free and open to the public. A lecture by the artist is planned on March 30 at 4 p.m.
Lahr spent last August in Georgia, the trip supported by a $4,750 fellowship from the Michael J. Metcalf Memorial Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation. This time she stayed at a farmhouse in the small village of Khissishevi, Georgia and employed a teen-ager as an interpreter. Like most Georgians she has encountered, Lahr found her hosts warm and friendly. 鈥淓verywhere I traveled in Georgia, people always wanted to take me in and feed me,鈥� she says.
Like many farmhouses, this one had a vineyard. More than 400 varieties of grapes are cultivated in Georgia, which is known for its winemaking.
Since her first trip, Lahr has been particularly taken with the Roma, or gypsies, whose very existence is ignored and whose culture isn鈥檛 catalogued.
Roma appear in many of Lahr鈥檚 images. The 溏心vlog免费B站 student captured 10-year-old Sveta Aliev, standing outside a bank, waiting to put her hand out for money as customers exited. She scowls at the camera, displeased to be distracted from her 鈥渨ork.鈥�
鈥淩oma children do not receive a formal education. A fraction of them do go to school, for how long鈥攏o one knows,鈥� says Lahr. 鈥淪veta, for example, speaks Russian, Romani, Georgian, and some English. I wish I could have taken her home.鈥�
鈥淭he Georgians take great pride in their craftsmanship,鈥� says Lahr who captured some of those images. 鈥淭heir cutlery, in particular, is (second to none??.) I would have loved to bring home one of their ceremonial knives, but it鈥檚 off limits in the age of homeland security, understandably so.鈥�
While Lahr concedes there are problems in Georgia鈥攈ealth care for the poor, for example, is rudimentary. Communicable diseases are commonplace and vaccinations are non-existent. The problem isn鈥檛 on the world鈥檚 radar.
But there is so much more to Georgia. Lahr points to one of her photos, a farmer鈥檚 market in Tbilisi. 鈥淭he people are peaceful and friendly. There are no soldiers, no guns, no constant upheaval,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he city is no more dangerous than New York City.鈥�